The Farmington Cinematheque Series presents RBG, Saturday, August 11, at 7 p.m., in the Little Theatre.

An intimate portrait of an unlikely rock star: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. With unprecedented access, the filmmakers explore how her early legal battles changed the world for women.

This film is rated PG.

The Farmington Cinematheque Series is sponsored by the San Juan College Henderson Fine Arts Center, the San Juan College Library and KSJE Radio. It features documentaries and independent films not released on a national level.

Tickets are $5, and are available at the San Juan College Box Office. For further information, call the Box Office at 505-566-3430.

KK Walling will showcase her work in an exhibit titled A View From The Four Corners, at the Henderson Fine Arts Center Art Gallery, August 10 to August 31.

An opening reception will be held Friday, August 10, from 5 to 7 p.m., in the Henderson Fine Arts Center Art Gallery.

The show titled, A View From The Four Corners will feature recent works of the four corners area and travels further afield by local artist KKWalling.

The Henderson Fine Arts Center Art Gallery is open Monday through Thursday, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and on Fridays, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For further information about this exhibit or other Gallery events, contact the Art Gallery at 505-566-3464.

Fort Lewis College (FLC) and New Mexico’s San Juan College (SJC) were awarded over $1 million from the National Science Foundation to create the Four Corners Noyce Scholars program (FCNS). The Noyce program aims to increase the number of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) graduates from both schools who also earn teaching certifications.

Colorado is not immune to the shortage of qualified teachers that is impacting states across the country. In 2017, the Colorado Department of Education reported that 50 percent of Colorado educators had to be recruited from out-of-state, meaning the state isn’t producing enough homegrown teachers.

The Colorado Department of Higher Education’s report “Colorado’s Teacher Shortages: Attracting and Retaining Excellent Educators” says that “… the state has teacher shortages in early childhood education and care, science, math, world languages, special education, and art/music/drama. We lack minority educators throughout the state. The shortages are more pronounced in rural and remote rural areas where we find unique challenges driven by inadequate teacher compensation, lack of affordable housing, and difficulty attracting new teachers to rural communities.”

As institutions with large minority student populations that also serve rural areas, Fort Lewis College and San Juan College are well-suited to respond to the need for more teachers in remote areas, not only in Colorado, but New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah as well.

“The Four Corners Noyce Scholars program is one way that Fort Lewis College contributes to the goal of preparing teachers for rural communities,” explains Dr. Anne McCarthy, associate dean of the FLC School of Arts & Sciences and one of the leaders behind the Noyce program. “FCNS aims to increase the number of well-qualified STEM teachers in the region’s schools, particularly in the many high-need, rural communities located in the Four Corners region and the nearby Navajo Nation.

“Our model is to recruit students from rural communities within our own region, provide scholarships to those students while they develop strong credentials, and then encourage them to return to their communities, equipped with the tools they need to be successful.”

Students within the Noyce program can receive scholarship support to pursue their teacher certification, along with specialized training in teaching in rural, often isolated and lower income, communities. Students working through the FCNS program will be paired with teaching opportunities offered in 13 school districts and 10 community partners located across Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona to help bring up the next generation.

“It is well established that national and regional economic success depends, to some extent, on student performance in the STEM fields,” says Dr. Alicia Taber O’Brien, mathematics education program lead at San Juan College and SJC’s driver of the Noyce program. “In addition, we know from work we’ve done with our regional superintendents that the Four Corners area faces challenges in recruiting highly-qualified STEM teachers in their school districts. The goal of this grant is to provide those with bachelor’s degrees in STEM fields with the training needed to become highly qualified STEM teachers. This training opportunity not only increases the number of locally trained STEM educators, it also further enhances the STEM experience and future career opportunities for students.”

“On the FLC campus, FCNS will allow students to take science beyond the classroom and interact with area youth and the broader community in the context of scientific outreach,” says Dr. McCarthy. “These opportunities give STEM majors, who may not have otherwise done so, a reason to consider teaching as a profession.”

The laser alignment tool will assist students in learning to complete shaft alignments.

Students enrolled in San Juan College’s School of Energy’s Maintenance Mechanic Program (MECH) will benefit from additional hands-on training thanks to SKF and Kaman Industrial Technologies.

Provided through the San Juan College Foundation, SKF and Kaman Industrial Technologies donated a Laser Alignment tool that will assist students in learning to complete shaft alignments. This state of the art tool, valued at approximately $5,000, will allow students in the MECH program to facilitate a near perfect alignment when two pieces of equipment such as a motor and a pump are coupled together. SKF is a leading bearing technology provider, and Kaman Industrial Technologies is one of North America’s largest industrial distributors.

“We are very appreciative of SKF’s and Kaman’s generosity,” says Mike Lindsay, Maintenance Mechanic assistant professor. “Our students are already seeing the benefit of how the tool will provide them with the experience and skill set that the industry wants. The direct training the students gain by using this new tool, can put them ahead of the rest when they begin seeking employment.”

The SJC Business Office was awarded the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting

The Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting has been awarded to San Juan College by Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) for its comprehensive annual financial report (CAFR). The Certificate of Achievement is the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting, and its attainment represents a significant accomplishment by a government and its management.

An Award of Financial Reporting Achievement has been awarded to the individual(s) or department designated by the government as primarily responsible for preparing the award-winning CAFR.

The CAFR has been judged by an impartial panel to meet the high standards of the program, which includes demonstrating a constructive “spirit of full disclosure” to clearly communicate its financial story and motivate potential users and user groups to read the CAFR.

“This award is about communication, compliance, transparency and integrity,” explained Executive Vice President, Ed DesPlas. “All of us at San Juan College should be proud of the recognition that we have received from the Governmental Financial Officers Association.”

“Thanks to the hard work of Kristie Ellis, Steve Miller and everyone in the Business Office and the support we receive from the college community, our college leadership and Board of Trustees,” he continued, “ our Comprehensive Annual Financial Report has once again passed a rigorous external peer review resulting in the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting.”

“Our expectation is that San Juan College’s audited financial statements will continue to be 100 percent clean with no findings,” added Kristie Ellis, San Juan College controller.

Government Finance Officers Association is a major professional association servicing the needs of nearly 19,000 appointed and elected local, state, and provincial-level government officials and other finance practitioners. It provides top quality publications, training programs, services, and products designed to enhance the skills and performance of those responsible for government finance policy and management.

Danielle Sullivan was surprised on stage by her son and family friend when she received the Allison Award at graduation. Pictured with Dr. Toni Hopper Pendergrass and San Juan College Foundation Executive Director Gayle Dean.

Grace, humility, strength, advocate and inspirer – These are all words that were used to describe Danielle Sullivan, as she was being honored with the Lou and Ruth Allison Award during this year’s commencement ceremony at San Juan College.

An English instructor at San Juan College for more than seven years, Sullivan has the deepest respect of her colleagues. Known for her ability to create an atmosphere of inclusiveness, one colleague commended her saying, “Danielle approaches issues with a solution-oriented mindset, always seeking the talents of others to accomplish tasks and provide creative solutions.”

Students appreciate Sullivan’s candid and encouraging teaching style that involves thinking and reflecting critically for themselves. “Her class helped me find strengths and weaknesses, which led me to discover qualities I never knew I had,” one student said.

Reiterating that thought, another added, “She taught me new ways to learn.”

At San Juan College, Sullivan works tirelessly to support the Honors and Service Learning programs. She manages the One Book, One Community project, providing innovative and collaborative leadership.

The Allison Award, one of the most prestigious given to a faculty member at San Juan College, carries with it a $2,000 stipend. The award, which is administered through the San Juan College Foundation, was established in 1986 by Ruth and the late Lou Allison, of Farmington, to honor faculty members who demonstrate a commitment to both the student and an academic discipline.

The San Juan College Student Activities office will present a series of movies under the stars this summer. Black Panther will be shown on Friday, July 27, at sunset (approximately 8:30 – 9 p.m.) in the Graduation Plaza.

“Black Panther” follows T’Challa who, after the events of “Captain America: Civil War,” returns home to the isolated, technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda to take his place as King. However, when an old enemy reappears on the radar, T’Challa’s mettle as King and Black Panther is tested when he is drawn into a conflict that puts the entire fate of Wakanda and the world at risk.

The film is rated PG-13 for prolonged sequences of action and violence, and a brief rude gesture.

Attendees are encouraged to bring a blanket and refreshments. In case of bad weather the movie will be moved into the Henderson Performance Hall.

For further information, call the Student Activities Office at 566-3403.

The San Juan College Student Activities office will present a series of movies under the stars this summer. Justice League will be shown on Friday, June 22, at sunset (approximately 8:30 – 9 p.m.) in the Graduation Lawn.

Fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s selfess act, to face an even greater enemy. Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to find and recruit a team of metahumans to stand against this newly awakened threat. But despite the formation of this unprecedented league of heroes – Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg and The Flash – it may already be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions.

The film is rated PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi violence and action.

Attendees are encouraged to bring a blanket and refreshments. In case of bad weather the movie will be moved into the Henderson Performance Hall.

For further information, call the Student Activities Office at 566-3403.

The San Juan College Planetarium’s AstroFriday presentation for Friday, June 22, is IBEX: Search for the Edge of the Solar System. Show times are at 7:30 and 8:30 p.m.

This is a 25-minute full-dome video in which audiences get an in-depth look at the mission and how IBEX (Interstellar Boundary Explorer) is collecting high-speed atoms to create a map of the Solar System’s boundary. Narrated by two inquisitive teenagers, audiences will hear from the scientists and engineers that developed the IBEX mission and created the spacecraft, and get the latest updates on the mission’s discoveries. A live evening sky show will be presented with stars on the ceiling of the planetarium.

Summer sky maps will be given out while supplies last. There is no admission charge, and no reservations are taken or required, but there is a maximum seating capacity of 60 in the Planetarium, so seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis. In order to preserve dark-adaption, no one will be admitted late once the show has started.

Weather permitting, a free public stargaze with telescopes will be held at 9:30 p.m. in the courtyard between the Planetarium and the Little Theatre, after the last show. The Stargaze will last a maximum of one hour.

There is no capacity limit for the stargaze. Plan to view Jupiter, the brilliant evening star Venus (near the beginning of the stargaze) and the distant planet Saturn (near the end of the stargaze). Binary star targets include the gold and blue Albireo and the double red stars of 61 Cygni in the Northern Cross as well as the binary North Star, Polaris. If weather conditions are particularly favorable, participants may also see deep-sky objects such as the globular cluster M13 in Hercules, the ghostly Ring Nebula, M57, in Lyra, the star-studded Wild Duck Cluster, M11, in Aquila, and the Dumbbell Nebua, M27 in Cygnus.

For further information, call David Mayeux at 505-566-3361. The Planetarium show schedule and other information is on the SJC Planetarium Facebook page.

Calvin Mathews, Butch Mathews and Kasyn Mathews (inside truck) presented a race truck to Dr. Toni Hopper Pendergrass, San Juan College President, Danny Beyhan, President of the San Juan College Foundation, and Robert McCartney, Automotive Instructor

The Mathews family of Aztec is sharing their love for automobiles, racing and engines with San Juan College. They generously donated a race truck to the School of Trades Automotive Program through the San Juan College Foundation.

Through this donation, the Mathews family hopes to provide San Juan College automotive program students with a valuable learning tool, providing them with hands-on experience with the race engine.

“A donation such as this benefits the automotive students not just by hands on, but by fueling their passion for the automotive trade. I mean who doesn’t like race cars?” comments Robert McCartney, San Juan College automotive instructor.

Calvin Mathews has been racing everything from stock cars, modifieds and trucks since he was 13 years old. His eight year old son, Kasyn is his co-pilot in a Razor 1000 Turbo in the pro class and he drives a Razor 170 under the sanctioning body of AZOP Racing in Arizona. Calvin’s father, Butch says, “Racing runs in the Mathews family blood.”

This #28 race truck was used in the ARCA West Truck Series on the West Coast. The truck has a top speed of 90 miles per hour; however, it can be geared to run up to 150 miles per hour.